Various law enforcement agencies engage in the pursuit of vehicles. Although the majority of drivers cooperate with law enforcement, on many occasions the drivers refuse to do so, and attempt to escape from authorities. These drivers are often chased by authorities attempting to subdue them at high speeds ("hot pursuit"). Although the reasons for fleeing may vary, most often these hot pursuits involve tracking of vehicles which may have been, for example, used in the commission of a crime, may have been stolen, whose occupants may have been engaged in criminal activity and are fleeing a crime scene, etc. A major problem associated with law enforcement's hot pursuit of fleeing vehicles is the risk of injury to police personnel involved in the chase, risk to the occupants of the fleeing vehicle, and more importantly, the risk of injury to the public because these hot pursuits are occurring on public streets and highways. The newsmedia frequently report about individuals who have been killed or injured when they or a vehicle they were in was struck by either a fleeing vehicle, or by the pursuing law enforcement vehicle.
Numerous law enforcement vehicles may simultaneously be pursuing the same vehicle, and they are informed by radio or similar means of communication of the fleeing vehicle's position by the observations of personnel in a pursuing vehicle. A helicopter or other aircraft may monitor the fleeing vehicle's location in some instances and report the location to pursuit vehicles on the ground. A limitation of visual observation, however, is that the fleeing vehicle may be lost if it gets out of sight of the tracking vehicle, the weather is bad and there is poor visibility, or at night.
One product currently being sold under the trademark of LoJack (registered trademark of LoJack Corporation, Dedham, Mass.) does enable police departments which are equipped with their proprietary tracking computers to monitor the location of a vehicle. A transmitter hidden within a vehicle is activated by a radio signal when the vehicle owner reports the vehicle to the police as being stolen. The transmitter then emits a tracking signal which is monitored. This system is limited to vehicles which have been equipped with the proprietary transmitter. Police pursuing a stolen car without this system, or out of the system's coverage area, must still rely on visual contact.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to minimize the risk of injury to the public and individuals involved in police pursuits. By reducing the need for constant visual contact between the target vehicle and the pursuit vehicles, this risk can be reduced.
The present invention provides a method and device to "tag" a fleeing or "target" vehicle by attaching a tracking device to it from a distance and then monitor the location of that target vehicle without constant visual contact, thereby minimizing the risk to bystanders and the individuals involved in the pursuit.